Some 50 short essays of the true "JAZZ GIANTS", their life, time and music, plus recommend cd’s (and/or dvd’s), that are also in the first list, signed with *.

Both lists for starting and seasoned jazz lovers.

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ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS

Famous picture of the 52nd Street in New York at night
(May 1948) by William P. Gotlieb (1917 - 2006)

This street was once called "Swing Street" because of the many
jazz clubs. Some of the names: Kelly's Stable, The Hickory House, 21
Club, The Famous Door, Jimmy Ryan's (on the left), Club Samoa (on
top), The Onyx (on the left), Yacht Club, Club Carousel (on the right)
and The 3 Deuces (on the right). According to the sign the 3 Deuces had
that night the Trio of Erroll Garner on stage. Mr. Gottlieb has
dedicated his works to the public domain.

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INTRODUCTION

Starting jazz lovers and jazz collectors always have the same problems:

"What are good jazz albums, who are the best musicians, what are the
best cd’s (and dvd’s) of these artists, and where can I find these?”

To answer these questions, I compiled two sections: ALL TIME JAZZ
CLASSICS, a list of 350 of the best cd’s, cd-box-sets and dvd’s, and
JAZZ GIANTS.

In the section JAZZ GIANTS I deal with the best jazz musicians in the
history of jazz, and wrote small biographies to give you some
background.

In combining these two sections, you can build an interesting jazz
collection, but your taste for music is highly personal.

So the best way remains: LISTEN.

Of course ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS and JAZZ GIANTS are my taste, although
I tried to be as objective as I can be.

But, like everybody else, there is music (and jazz) that I love and
music that I dislike.
The famous Duke Ellington once said: "There are two kinds of music:
good and bad.”
And right he was.

During the past 100 years or so, jazz changed a lot.

It started as a kind of entertainment and dance music.

Roughly divided in two kinds: piano jazz, jazz played at bars and
"hot houses” in cities like New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago and
New York, and street parade bands
(without heavy instruments like a piano) that played during funerals,
but also during happier times and celebrations.

But we, jazz lovers, had the good fortune, that a certain Mister Edison
invented a way, around 1900, that a voice could be recorded.

Nobody thought of recording music with these primitive machines, with a
large horn (microphones were invented later) and wax roles.

Later somebody got the idea of recording music, and the very first
"jass” record was recorded in 1917.

It’s a good thing, to buy a good book and read about the history of
jazz, and how this kind of music developed from primitive dance music,
to an art form, that certainly can nowadays be compared with classical
music.

How this music grew from the "hot houses” and bars, to the stage of
concert halls.
Good books about the history of jazz gives you a better understanding.
The big difference is of course the art of improvisation.

Oscar Peterson called jazz: "Instant emotional composing”, and the
main reason why jazz players prefer to be recorded during "live”
concerts, is that the inspiration to improvise, is certainly found in
playing together with other jazz musicians, and the reaction(s) of the
audience.

The fact that recording music developed too, is certainly one of the
reasons how jazz became popular.

From piano rolls to the first 78 rpm, breakable shellac records, was a
major step.
Long Playing, Stereo records came to the market around 1957, while the
next big step was in the 80ths, the introduction of Compact Discs.

Jazz is here in many different styles, and there’s a big difference
listening to bossa-nova jazz or the hard to understand avant-garde jazz.

When Helmut asked me to compile a list of "Jazz Jahrhundertwerke”,
he also asked me to comment on every cd or cd-box-set.

Well of course, I started doing that, but since my list of the very best
cd’s in jazz, soon passed the number of 300, it became clear that making
a list of ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS, and comment on every recommended cd,
or cd-box, would end in a book.
Even a limited list would bring no solution, because even if I mentioned
one cd for every major artist, there still were these combinations of
great artists, that I had to include.

These albums are not only real "jazz classics”, but even classics in
popular music.
I think, no serious music lover, even lovers of other kinds of music,
could do without these cd’s. Both are that good!

Another example: Jazz singer Mel Tormé, and piano player George
Shearing, did no less than 6 outstanding albums together, of elegant,
swinging, outstanding "chamber jazz”.

All of these albums were nominated for or awarded with a Grammy Award
(the "Oscar” for outstanding music), that I feel you should at last
have some, but better all 6 cd’s, brought together in a box-set:
"The Complete …”, that even gives you a bonus of an extra (7th) cd.

Both "Ella & Louis” and "Mel & George” are unsurpassed,
and certainly belong to the list of "ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS”.

There are a lot more of these very fine combinations in jazz, so my list
of recommended "Jazz Classics” grew, and grew, and grew.

I certainly wanted to give you the best list I could possibly do. Also I
wanted to include some dvd’s.

So I decided to give you not one, but two lists.

One list of "ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS", that ended in 350
titles at the moment, but could certainly grown in the future, and a
second list called "JAZZ GIANTS”.

After all this website is not a jazz lesson or a book.

There are a lot of good books around that can give you comments on cd’s,
like "Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD”, and "All Music Guide –
Jazz”, were you can find a lot more cd’s.

About jazz artists, I decided to give you only the true giants in
"JAZZ GIANTS”, in small essay’s, limited to some 50 artists.

For all, and other artists, again there are good books and many
"Encyclopedia’s”.

Combined "ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS” (pdf-download for printing in
small letters and take away included!) and "JAZZ GIANTS” will
certainly give starters a fine jazz collection.

To discover your own special taste in jazz, there remains just one way:
LISTEN.

I am certain, once you discover jazz, and how rich, mature and honest
this kind of music really is, you will enjoy it your whole life.

To start with we give you: ALL TIME JAZZ CLASSICS on the next few pages.

Some CDs or DVDs are signed with a star like "*". The star
means, that artists involved in these CDs, CD-BOX-SETs and/or DVDs are
also in the following "JAZZ GIANTS". To have a look at our JAZZ
GIANTS please click here.

Some CDs or DVDs are signed with a star like "*". The star
means, that artists involved in these CDs, CD-BOX-SETs and / or DVDs
are also in the following "JAZZ GIANTS". To have a look at our
JAZZ GIANTS please click here

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To get your printed list of the 350 best Jazz-CDs and Jazz-DVDs please
click here